Ira+Ledbetter

On the first of February, 1957, veterinarian Ira Ledbetter performed an abortion on 38-year-old Alice Kimberly. Ledbetter used a veterinary instrument called a milk tube on Alice, causing lacerations and an embolism. She quickly died of her injuries, leaving her husband with five minor children to raise alone.

Ledbetter, age 65, appealed his conviction and was offered release on $10,000 bond pending appeal after being convicted of first-degree manslaughter in Alice's death.

Ira Sullivan Ledbetter was born around 1892 (different sources give different dates) and died in February of 1984. He had moved to Coldwater, Kansas, from Larned about ten years before Alice's death.

"Stay of Sentence for Coldwater Man," (Coldwater, KS) Western Star, Jun. 14, 1957